WHAT WE'VE REPORTEDSmyrna Town Council has been working the past few months to come down harder on property owners with vacant buildings in town. The status of buildings 404 and 431-437 Smyrna-Clayton Boulevard initiated the conversation at a July council meeting.

"These two properties have been vacant and neglected for a number of years," said town manager Dave Hugg at the July 2 meeting. "We've been working diligently over a long period of time with the property owners to try and get them to take some interest in either fixing the buildings or removing them."

The property at 404 Smyrna-Clayton Boulevard had previously been deemed a dangerous building; council unanimously approved a $12,800 bid to demolish the property.

The bid to repair the 431-437 property went unanswered so council asked for the town to continue the process of seeing if the property should be qualified a dangerous building and eventually demolished.

SEPTEMBER UPDATE Councilwoman Joanne Masten asked for an update on the buildings at the Sept. 4 council meeting. Hugg said the 404 property would be demolished relatively soon.

The 431-437 property was still being evaluated and they had received bids for demolition, Hugg said. At the time Hugg told council the owner was asking for more time to make repairs to the building but town lawyer Barrett Edwards informed him Smyrna had met all the legal requirements, therefore, there was no reason the town couldn't continue down the path of demolition.

WHAT'S NEW The building at 404 Smyrna-Clayton Boulevard was demolished the week of Sept. 10 by Gateway Construction, said Smyrna Manager of Building and Inspections Grant Prichard.

The town advertised for demolition bids for the 431-437 property and received three responses on August 23. Prichard said the town has not awarded the contract. The bids will have to go to council for approval.

Prichard said the owner of the 431-437 property has contacted the town stating he intends to renovate the building but Prichard said the owner has yet to apply for the permits needed to do so.